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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- The No. 22 Boilermakers ran into a strong hitting attack and tough defense in No. 10 Penn State, falling 3-0 Friday. The Nittany Lions won the match 25-18, 25-17, 25-17 as Purdue faced their fourth Top 10 foe in the last five matches.
Junior Danielle Cuttino put down 11 kills, while junior Azariah Stahl added nine and redshirt senior Faye Adelaja managed eight.
Sophomore Brooke Peters led the defense with eight digs, while Stahl and redshirt sophomore Carissa Damler pulled up five apiece and redshirt junior Ashley Evans added five. At the net, redshirt freshman Blake Mohler put up three blocks and redshirt sophomore Sherridan Atkinson chipped in two. Freshman Natalie Haben served up two aces.
Penn State outhit the Boilermakers .322 to .137 and registered 32 digs to Purdue's 29. The teams tied with four blocks apiece.
Set 1 was a back and forth affair to start, but ended with Penn State scoring seven of the final 10 points in a 25-18 win. The Boilermakers used a 4-1 run, including a pair of blocks by Mohler, to take an early 5-3 lead. Penn State answered with a 5-0 run to go ahead 8-5. Purdue narrowed the gap to one at 9-8, but the Nittany Lions surged to a 14-9 lead to force a Boilermaker timeout. Purdue would get no closer than three the rest of the way, falling 25-18. Cuttino tallied four kills in the set, but PSU hit at a .393 clip to Purdue's .156 effort.
A late Nittany Lion run stole away Set 2 25-17.The Boilermakers scored four of the first six points, including an ace by Stahl, but Penn State managed a 10-3 run to go up 12-7. A kill by Atkinson and three PSU errors cut the margin to one at 12-11. Purdue called timeout down 17-11 and scored four straight out of the break, including two Adelaja kills and an ace by Haben. Penn State took a break of its own and closed out the set with eight of the final 10 points. Stahl and Adelaja posted three kills apiece in the stanza.
After splitting the first 12 points of Set 3, Penn State rallied to a 13-7 lead and never relinquished it in a 25-17 win. Cuttino and Stahl each had two kills in the first 12 points, but a 7-1 run gave Penn State a 13-7 lead.A block by Adelaja and kill by Stahl pulled Purdue within four at 14-10, but the Nittany Lions scored eight of the next 12 to go up 22-13. Kills by Stahl and Cuttino and an ace by Haben kept the set going, but a kill by Heidi Thelen ended the match. Cuttino had five kills in the final stanza and Stahl added four, but it was not enough to hold off a PSU attack hitting .297.
The No. 22 Boilermakers (11-7, 1-6 B1G) return to action at 8:30 p.m. ET Saturday when they take on Rutgers.